By Wayne Larrivee. CREATED Sep 3, 2014
I spent part of my prep time this week for Packers/Seahawks reviewing their September 2012 meeting, the infamous ?Fail Mary? game. That is the game where replacement referee Lance Easley ruled touchdown instead of interception in the corner of the end zone in the final seconds of what turned out to be a 14-12 Seattle victory over the Packers.
Russell Wilson threw a ?Hail Mary? pass into the end zone, Green Bay's M.D. Jennings intercepted the ball, then was tied up by Seattle receiver Golden Tate and Easley ruled touchdown calling the play simultaneous possession. The play went to review and the league officials in the press box did not have the ?stones? to change the call on the field. As Easley told me the morning after the game, the replacement referees were basically going with whatever the replay booth told them when plays went for review.
Replay could and should have changed the call but did not! The result was one of the most ?wrongful? defeats in the long history of Green Bay Packers football. All of that is ancient history and my review of the game tape from that night had nothing to do with reliving, reviewing or lamenting the call again. I was looking to see how the Packers handled the noise of the setting and the adversity they faced that night especially in the first half as they overcame eight sacks of quarterback Aaron Rodgers to take the lead in the second half of the game.
What I saw on that tape was a young Seattle team ?fired up? to take-on one of the NFL's established outfits. What I saw was a Seattle team that had no idea how good they were or how good they would become some 18 months later.
I also saw an unflappable Packers quarterback who stood tall in the heat of a dynamic pass rush and cooly direct his team to victory?only to have a replacement official make the wrong call costing his team that win. If you watch that tape you would have to conclude that not only is he good but Aaron Rodgers is one tough customer! The Packers rebounded from that defeat, went on to win another NFC North Division title and make the playoffs.
This Seahawks organization could point to that Monday night in Seattle two Septembers ago as the launching point of their eventual Super Bowl run a season later. This is where they realized ?Hey, we ARE good.?
Today the roles are reversed. The Seahawks are defending champions, the Packers play the underdog role and the principles in the end zone (Tate, Jennings and Easley) will not be there. Tate and Jennings have moved on and that was Easley's final NFL game as the shocking result hastened a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and it's officials union two days later.
So where does that leave us entering the 2012 league opener? The Seahawks are playing with the swagger of a Super Bowl Champ. Remember the 15-1 Packers of 2011? Yes that kind of swagger.
They are certainly a better club than the one that beat the Packers in unjustified fashion two seasons ago-if for no other reason than they know how good they are! Seattle is better because they have a healthy Percy Harvin, a difference maker at wide receiver. Wilson is no longer a rookie but a Super Bowl winning quarterback. Their ?Legion of Boom? secondary is decorated with three All Pros (Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas). ?Beast Mode? is still a beast running back Marshawn Lynch remains the bell-cow of this offense.
The Packers have put a lot into this game from a time standpoint, X's and O's and emotion. The league opener is the game you spend some of your off season and a portion of training camp getting ready for. This summer before each training camp practice the Packers offense spent 20 minutes alone inside the Don Hutson Center and worked specifically on what they will do in tonight's opener. I can't wait to see what they've come up with!
Rather than revenge my impression of the Packers as pertains to the game two years ago is that it has given them a quiet confidence. They can go to Seattle, in a big spotlight moment, in that environment and win the football game! After all they've beaten these guys in this setting before they just weren't awarded the victory.
The Packers are a better football team from a personnel standpoint today than they were in September 2012. I see a defense that has added seven-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Julius Peppers opposite Clay Matthews. They are deep and talented in the secondary and they've remolded their front seven to be smaller but faster. I see a team that, in general has had a much better training camp because all but a few of the players they are counting on have been on the field every day.
The Packers have gotten off to slow starts each of the last two seasons largely because a good portion of their key players missed some or most of training camp. That hasn't been the case this summer.
This is the best coach Mike McCarthy has felt about his club coming out of camp in quite some time. So it is time to get it on!
I spent part of my prep time this week for Packers/Seahawks reviewing their September 2012 meeting, the infamous ?Fail Mary? game. That is the game where replacement referee Lance Easley ruled touchdown instead of interception in the corner of the end zone in the final seconds of what turned out to be a 14-12 Seattle victory over the Packers.
Russell Wilson threw a ?Hail Mary? pass into the end zone, Green Bay's M.D. Jennings intercepted the ball, then was tied up by Seattle receiver Golden Tate and Easley ruled touchdown calling the play simultaneous possession. The play went to review and the league officials in the press box did not have the ?stones? to change the call on the field. As Easley told me the morning after the game, the replacement referees were basically going with whatever the replay booth told them when plays went for review.
Replay could and should have changed the call but did not! The result was one of the most ?wrongful? defeats in the long history of Green Bay Packers football. All of that is ancient history and my review of the game tape from that night had nothing to do with reliving, reviewing or lamenting the call again. I was looking to see how the Packers handled the noise of the setting and the adversity they faced that night especially in the first half as they overcame eight sacks of quarterback Aaron Rodgers to take the lead in the second half of the game.
What I saw on that tape was a young Seattle team ?fired up? to take-on one of the NFL's established outfits. What I saw was a Seattle team that had no idea how good they were or how good they would become some 18 months later.
I also saw an unflappable Packers quarterback who stood tall in the heat of a dynamic pass rush and cooly direct his team to victory?only to have a replacement official make the wrong call costing his team that win. If you watch that tape you would have to conclude that not only is he good but Aaron Rodgers is one tough customer! The Packers rebounded from that defeat, went on to win another NFC North Division title and make the playoffs.
This Seahawks organization could point to that Monday night in Seattle two Septembers ago as the launching point of their eventual Super Bowl run a season later. This is where they realized ?Hey, we ARE good.?
Today the roles are reversed. The Seahawks are defending champions, the Packers play the underdog role and the principles in the end zone (Tate, Jennings and Easley) will not be there. Tate and Jennings have moved on and that was Easley's final NFL game as the shocking result hastened a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and it's officials union two days later.
So where does that leave us entering the 2012 league opener? The Seahawks are playing with the swagger of a Super Bowl Champ. Remember the 15-1 Packers of 2011? Yes that kind of swagger.
They are certainly a better club than the one that beat the Packers in unjustified fashion two seasons ago-if for no other reason than they know how good they are! Seattle is better because they have a healthy Percy Harvin, a difference maker at wide receiver. Wilson is no longer a rookie but a Super Bowl winning quarterback. Their ?Legion of Boom? secondary is decorated with three All Pros (Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas). ?Beast Mode? is still a beast running back Marshawn Lynch remains the bell-cow of this offense.
The Packers have put a lot into this game from a time standpoint, X's and O's and emotion. The league opener is the game you spend some of your off season and a portion of training camp getting ready for. This summer before each training camp practice the Packers offense spent 20 minutes alone inside the Don Hutson Center and worked specifically on what they will do in tonight's opener. I can't wait to see what they've come up with!
Rather than revenge my impression of the Packers as pertains to the game two years ago is that it has given them a quiet confidence. They can go to Seattle, in a big spotlight moment, in that environment and win the football game! After all they've beaten these guys in this setting before they just weren't awarded the victory.
The Packers are a better football team from a personnel standpoint today than they were in September 2012. I see a defense that has added seven-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Julius Peppers opposite Clay Matthews. They are deep and talented in the secondary and they've remolded their front seven to be smaller but faster. I see a team that, in general has had a much better training camp because all but a few of the players they are counting on have been on the field every day.
The Packers have gotten off to slow starts each of the last two seasons largely because a good portion of their key players missed some or most of training camp. That hasn't been the case this summer.
This is the best coach Mike McCarthy has felt about his club coming out of camp in quite some time. So it is time to get it on!
